What is "snotter"

Snotter \Snot"ter\, v. i. [From Snot.] To snivel; to cry or whine. [Prov. Eng.]
--Grose.

Snotter \Snot"ter\, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Naut.) A rope going over a yardarm, used to bend a tripping line to, in sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war; also, the short line supporting the heel of the sprit in a small boat.

n. (context nautical English) A rope going over a yardarm, used to bend a tripping line to, in sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war; also, the short line supporting the heel of the sprit in a small boat. vb. To snivel; to cry or whine.

A snotter is a rope or tackle used in sailing to tension the sprit on a spritsail, or a sprit boom on a sprit-boomed sail. It is also used in a junk rig.

There are a great many variations on the snotter arrangement, and some more fastidious authors have referred to it as a snouter or snorter.

The origin of the nautical term is obscure. Hauling on the snotter sets the tension in the spar and thus governs how the sail is set.

On very small boats, typically with a single boomless spritsail, the snotter is a rope with eyes spliced into it, and is merely hooked into the fore end of the sprit and then jammed up the mast to force the upper end of the sprit into a pocket in the sail.